Systematic analysis of prognostic significance, functional enrichment and immune implication of STK10 in acute myeloid leukemia

Background: Despite deeper understanding of the genetic landscape of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the improvement of survival is still a great challenge. STK10 is overexpressed in several cancers with functions varying according to cancer types. But the functions of STK10 in AML has never been reported.

Methods: We analyzed the expression, prognosis and potential functions of STK10 utilizing public web servers. Metascape and the String database were used for functional and protein-protein interaction analyses.

Results: We found STK10 was enriched in blood & immune cells and overexpressed in AML. High STK10 expression was associated with poor overall survival, which was also identified in the subgroups of patients ≤ 60 years old and patients with non-high-risk cytogenetics. We demonstrated genes associated with STK10 were enriched in blood, spleen and bone marrow, influencing the immune function and biological process of AML. ITGB2 and ITGAM might directly interact with STK10 and were associated with poor prognosis. Besides, STK10 was associated with the infiltration of immune cells and immune checkpoints, like HLA-E, CD274 and GAL-9.

Conclusions: The present study was the original description of STK10 in AML and set the stage for developing STK10 as a new prognostic marker or therapeutic target for AML.